Total new guy (fng)

Codhod

New Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2022
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3
Looking for advice on a first new detector. I’ll mainly be hunting in creek beds, mountains, old mining sites etc. for hopefully some gold. I would like to be able to hunt for coins and relics as well when the situation comes up. So I guess I am looking for an all around detector. The states I will be mostly hunting are Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Colorado so I realize the relic hunting won’t be extremely lucrative but there is still fun stuff to be found.

Budget is fairly flexible as I typically choose the overkill option.

Ive been researching the equinox 800 and the deus2.

Should I be going a different route?

This would be my first detector so I have some learning to do!

Thanks


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Looking for advice on a first new detector. I’ll mainly be hunting in creek beds, mountains, old mining sites etc. for hopefully some gold. I would like to be able to hunt for coins and relics as well when the situation comes up. So I guess I am looking for an all around detector. The states I will be mostly hunting are Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Colorado so I realize the relic hunting won’t be extremely lucrative but there is still fun stuff to be found.

Budget is fairly flexible as I typically choose the overkill option.

Ive been researching the equinox 800 and the deus2.

Should I be going a different route?

This would be my first detector so I have some learning to do!

Thanks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

First welcome to the friendly metal detecting forum

the two detectors you are looking at are great detectors I have never owned either but do have friends that I detect with that use the Equinox 800 and 600 I have used a friends Equinox 800 but very little,with that being said every friend I have that uses the Equinox 600 and 800 has had to upgrade the shaft on them because of the poor build quality two of my friends has had drowning issues with their equinox 800s those are all build quality issues that Mine lab should have taken care of but never has addressed as far as I know

The Deus 2 I have never even seen one but me personally I would and could never recommend the Deus 2 to someone just starting out simply because it has a very very steep learning curve from my understanding, from what I have seen of the Deus 2s and read about them they are a great detector though

there is a third detector made by Nokta/Macro that is also very new to the market the Legend that I would suggest to you to take a look at it, I own one and liked it so much that I purchased a second one for my wife to try and learn on, the thing with the Legend is and this is just my opinion and some friends opinions that use the Equinox 800 when we are detecting together none of us see any real difference between the Equinox performance and the Legend performance rite now, with that being said Nokta/Macro is getting ready to release a new update for the Legend that in my opinion the legend will pass the Equinox in capabilities from what I have been seeing in the testing of the new software, but it does remain to be seen,the Legend is a really great detector now and very very ruggedly built.

of the two detectors you asked about the Deus 2 is the more expensive of the two costing somewhere around $1600 the Equinox is somewhere around $1000 and if you factor in a new shaft which will cost you around $150 you will be looking at around $1150 plus tax and shipping unless you can find a dealer that will throw in the shipping and taxes for free, the Legend will run you $635 i believe for the standard pack or $765 for the pro pack

the difference between the Legend standard pack and pro pack with the standard pack you will get an 11 inch coil and wireless headphones the pro pack comes with the 11 inch coil plus a six inch coil and a battery back up power pack,plus the wireless headphones, being as how you said you want to detect for gold I think you are talking gold nuggets you will want that six inch coil for getting in tight spots, as well as some of your park tot lot hunts, the other nice thing about the Legend is you can condense it down really compact the Equinox you cannot, I believe the Deus2 collapses to a really compact size also.

hope this helps in your decision
 
First welcome to the friendly metal detecting forum

the two detectors you are looking at are great detectors I have never owned either but do have friends that I detect with that use the Equinox 800 and 600 I have used a friends Equinox 800 but very little,with that being said every friend I have that uses the Equinox 600 and 800 has had to upgrade the shaft on them because of the poor build quality two of my friends has had drowning issues with their equinox 800s those are all build quality issues that Mine lab should have taken care of but never has addressed as far as I know

The Deus 2 I have never even seen one but me personally I would and could never recommend the Deus 2 to someone just starting out simply because it has a very very steep learning curve from my understanding, from what I have seen of the Deus 2s and read about them they are a great detector though

there is a third detector made by Nokta/Macro that is also very new to the market the Legend that I would suggest to you to take a look at it, I own one and liked it so much that I purchased a second one for my wife to try and learn on, the thing with the Legend is and this is just my opinion and some friends opinions that use the Equinox 800 when we are detecting together none of us see any real difference between the Equinox performance and the Legend performance rite now, with that being said Nokta/Macro is getting ready to release a new update for the Legend that in my opinion the legend will pass the Equinox in capabilities from what I have been seeing in the testing of the new software, but it does remain to be seen,the Legend is a really great detector now and very very ruggedly built.

of the two detectors you asked about the Deus 2 is the more expensive of the two costing somewhere around $1600 the Equinox is somewhere around $1000 and if you factor in a new shaft which will cost you around $150 you will be looking at around $1150 plus tax and shipping unless you can find a dealer that will throw in the shipping and taxes for free, the Legend will run you $635 i believe for the standard pack or $765 for the pro pack

the difference between the Legend standard pack and pro pack with the standard pack you will get an 11 inch coil and wireless headphones the pro pack comes with the 11 inch coil plus a six inch coil and a battery back up power pack,plus the wireless headphones, being as how you said you want to detect for gold I think you are talking gold nuggets you will want that six inch coil for getting in tight spots, as well as some of your park tot lot hunts, the other nice thing about the Legend is you can condense it down really compact the Equinox you cannot, I believe the Deus2 collapses to a really compact size also.

hope this helps in your decision


Thank you for the recommendation. I do appreciate a well built tool. I will look into the Legend and dive into the details.

Yes gold nuggets are the goal especially big ones!!

I appreciate the comments on the deus2 being not exactly catered to beginners. My only concern is that if I do really get into the hobby am I going to regret not stepping up right away? Id be fine with the legend or eq 800 if I can use them for a few years without feeling the need to upgrade.

For reference I have decades of experience in big tech world so I’m pretty good with electronics.


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Welcome to the forum.

Since gold prospecting with a metal detector seems to be a big part of your plan, you might want to check out Detector Prospector.

The most proven, (released 4 years ago) do it all very well, VLF which includes gold prospecting is definitely the Minelab Equinox 800. It can handle the high mineralization in most of the gold fields in the states you mentioned since it can operate in single frequencies high enough for small gold nuggets and in simultaneous multi frequency which also hits hard on small gold nuggets but also ground balances really well when the ground has lot of iron mineralization. The Equinox 800 is also a proven coin, jewelry and relic hunter on dry land, fresh water and saltwater beaches. If you buy one and like it, there are several affordable aftermarket collapsible carbon fiber shaft systems for the Equinox that make it easy to backpack. It also has two great gold prospecting and trashed site coils in the Minelab 6" coil and the Coiltek 10X5" coil.

If you happen to be using it near or in water it is supposed to be waterproof. That has been proven to not be the case. If you buy a new one you are covered for 3 years anyway.

The recently released SMF Nokta Makro Legend is very similar in performance to the Equinox 800 for coin, jewelry, soon to be relic and gold prospecting (when the next software update is released). I wouldn't hesitate to use it in the Western USA goldfields and relic sites after the iron bias settings are updated. Rugged, heavy duty (and a bit heavy) with a 6" round coil and a 10x5 coming soon.

The recently released SMF XP Deus 2 on paper, is capable of being an all around detector that has a gold prospecting mode. I can vouch for its coin, jewelry and relic abilities. They are outstanding. It also is dive rated to 60 feet depth. It's lightweight ergonomics and packability are also unmatched. There have been a couple of reports from guys I know and trust in Utah and Nevada along with a well-known Arizona YouTuber that have been able to find small gold nuggets with Deus 2. However, they all have found (me too) that Deus 2's Goldfield mode needs much more sensitivity to very small gold below .3 grams.

Finding the smaller sized gold near the surface often leads to the bigger stuff so many gold prospecting detectorists use one detector to find the crumbs and another detector for the bigger/deeper nuggets. Most serious gold prospectors using detectors also own a pulse induction detector like the Minelab SDC 2300, GPX 4000 to 6000 series or the GPZ 7000. The numbers in the name of those detectors reflect their MSRP unfortunately.

For the Western USA and its sometimes wildly changing iron and salt mineralization, these newer SMF (simultaneous multi frequency) VLF detectors are a very welcome addition to detector enthusiasts out here.
 
Welcome to the forum.

Since gold prospecting with a metal detector seems to be a big part of your plan, you might want to check out Detector Prospector.

The most proven, (released 4 years ago) do it all very well, VLF which includes gold prospecting is definitely the Minelab Equinox 800. It can handle the high mineralization in most of the gold fields in the states you mentioned since it can operate in single frequencies high enough for small gold nuggets and in simultaneous multi frequency which also hits hard on small gold nuggets but also ground balances really well when the ground has lot of iron mineralization. The Equinox 800 is also a proven coin, jewelry and relic hunter on dry land, fresh water and saltwater beaches. If you buy one and like it, there are several affordable aftermarket collapsible carbon fiber shaft systems for the Equinox that make it easy to backpack. It also has two great gold prospecting and trashed site coils in the Minelab 6" coil and the Coiltek 10X5" coil.

If you happen to be using it near or in water it is supposed to be waterproof. That has been proven to not be the case. If you buy a new one you are covered for 3 years anyway.

The recently released SMF Nokta Makro Legend is very similar in performance to the Equinox 800 for coin, jewelry, soon to be relic and gold prospecting (when the next software update is released). I wouldn't hesitate to use it in the Western USA goldfields and relic sites after the iron bias settings are updated. Rugged, heavy duty (and a bit heavy) with a 6" round coil and a 10x5 coming soon.

The recently released SMF XP Deus 2 on paper, is capable of being an all around detector that has a gold prospecting mode. I can vouch for its coin, jewelry and relic abilities. They are outstanding. It also is dive rated to 60 feet depth. It's lightweight ergonomics and packability are also unmatched. There have been a couple of reports from guys I know and trust in Utah and Nevada along with a well-known Arizona YouTuber that have been able to find small gold nuggets with Deus 2. However, they all have found (me too) that Deus 2's Goldfield mode needs much more sensitivity to very small gold below .3 grams.

Finding the smaller sized gold near the surface often leads to the bigger stuff so many gold prospecting detectorists use one detector to find the crumbs and another detector for the bigger/deeper nuggets. Most serious gold prospectors using detectors also own a pulse induction detector like the Minelab SDC 2300, GPX 4000 to 6000 series or the GPZ 7000. The numbers in the name of those detectors reflect their MSRP unfortunately.

For the Western USA and its sometimes wildly changing iron and salt mineralization, these newer SMF (simultaneous multi frequency) VLF detectors are a very welcome addition to detector enthusiasts out here.


Thank you for this write up focused on my area. You touched on some key points that are going to be important.

Do you know when the update on the Legand is slated for release?

I understand that if I really want to “gold” prospect that I will eventually need a separate dedicated machine. I think though getting into the hobby would be more fun with a multifunctional detector allowing me to use it in a variety of applications.

I don’t plan on doing “underwater” detecting but maybe in creeks, streams, wet grass, fresh water beaches, etc. and like the idea of waterproof.


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Get the Deus if you have the jimmy, its not that hard to use and is a great detector. Get a 9 in coil to start if you can find oe and get out there.
 
Thank you for the recommendation. I do appreciate a well built tool. I will look into the Legend and dive into the details.


I appreciate the comments on the deus2 being not exactly catered to beginners. My only concern is that if I do really get into the hobby am I going to regret not stepping up right away? Id be fine with the legend or eq 800 if I can use them for a few years without feeling the need to upgrade.



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Well your comment about stepping up to a better detector, we all have that issue, a lot of us that have been detecting for awhile we are always looking for the next best thing in detectors, and the fact is most of us could take a detector that was built in 2009 or 2010 and in a lot of cases even earlier and still find good things, for example I have a Xterra 705 that I feel I could pick up and still hunt with the best of them, that comes from learning the tool in your hand which a lot of detectorist do not simply because they are always looking for the next best detector to step up to, the point is just have fun, and do not take it to serious just enjoy being out in the fresh air and nature the finds will come, and a lot of times they are unexpected finds which are the best.
 
Welcome to the forum! Please don,t use that acronym FNG,it,s demeaning even if you use it yourself. We,re all new at some time!
 
I have an Equinox 600 (I don't have a need for a gold mode where I go), and I bought the new rods from Steve's Detector Rods. When I asked someone for a recommendation, he told me either the Nokta Legend or the Equinox 600 was what he recommended for the price range I suggested. I went with the Equinox 600 because the Legend was (is) still new and shaking the bugs out of the software. I also bought a 6" coil to hunt trashier areas.

I have nothing but good things to say about Minelab products.

--Tom
 
Notes on the Equinox after using the hell out of it the last 9 months... No coil issues..but I do not overtighten so no ears snapping off coil...

I mainly use a 6 inch coil as all my areas are trashy... fantastic separation once you learn the readings and tones... I use one to validate the other...

The only negative for me was the arm rest snapped right in half...but was covered under the warranty and got through a week with tape...Just do not rely on email...if you get a minelab and have any issues call!... Also, per Minelab coil stiffeners are NOT suggested...just do not overtighten coil and clean rubber washers once in a while.

The race to make these detectors lighter and lighter means more plastic...
 
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